Member Article

South Warwickshire's tourism board welcomes new Business Development Manager

An accomplished destination marketing professional who has worked across the US and UK has joined Shakespeare’s England as its new Business Development Manager.

American-born Vicki Zamudio-Senghera has more than 20 years’ experience in the global tourism travel trade and in her previous role helped launch Destination Coventry – the city’s destination management organisation – in 2021. She was also responsible for the leisure segment with Visit Coventry.

Vicki takes over the role from Glyn Slade, who recently took up a new role as Partnership Development Manager at Experience Oxfordshire.

Five years ago Vicki was head hunted by Value Retail AKA The Bicester Village Shopping Collection as Global Tourism Partnership Manager – Head of India and ad-hoc markets such as South Korea, LATAM and USA, allowing her to move from Florida to work in Oxfordshire.

Previously, she was Director of Tourism at Simon Shopping Destinations/Sawgrass Mills based in the based in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area of Florida for five years providing international destination marketing and tourism support for 110 shopping destinations across the USA.

Chief Executive of Shakespeare’s England, Helen Peters, who also previously worked at Bicester Village as Deputy Tourism Director, said: “We are very lucky to have Vicki. She has garnered a wealth of travel trade experience - both internationally and in the UK - and is a perfect fit for Shakespeare’s England.

“Her experience will be invaluable from an operations perspective as we bring greater momentum to our tourism growth ambitions in South Warwickshire and the wider area, especially following the success of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Coventry City of Culture 2021.

“We are firmly committed to establishing Warwickshire as a family-friendly green tourism destination, ensuring we work with our members on VisitEngland’s Access for All project to help improve facilities for less able travellers.

“I would encourage any tourism attractions or hospitality businesses interested in finding out more about the opportunities we can offer to please get in contact with Vicki.” Vicki said: “I am excited to join Shakespeare’s England and the team of this amazing destination. Helen and I have very similar backgrounds coming from retail tourism marketing, she also understands the bigger picture of how and where to build travel trade partnerships, promote destinations, brands, venues and attractions and the importance of local and international partnerships.

“It’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to help drive tourism and promote our products in Stratford-upon-Avon and the wider districts of South Warwickshire.

“Shakespeare is a name recognised around the world. Being from outside the UK, I truly appreciate the difference in landscape, architecture, heritage and all the cultural attractions. Shakespeare’s England and South Warwickshire has all that to offer visitors - and more.

“I am also a food fan - Warwickshire is great for eating out. One of my favourite places is Bonito, a tapas/wine bar in Warwick.

“I live in Coventry and enjoy just how easy it is to get out into the countryside from the city and to go for walks in the parks nearby - Leamington’s Newbold Comyn Park is one we particularly like. My family and I also love a day out in Stratford-Upon-Avon because of its rich history and beauty.”

Vicki, whose husband is British, initially started out her career working in the hotel industry (Hilton Hyatt and Starwood hotels) and then in human resources in Los Angeles and Orange County, California.

Vicki moved into the travel trade after being appointed Regional Commercial Manager (West) USA in Los Angeles for Colombian-based Avianca Airlines. She launched the Los Angeles-Bogota non-stop flight for the Latin American and international airline and was responsible for sales, marketing and PR activities for the region, Asia, Hawaii and Alaska.

Vicki was raised in both Colombia and California by Colombian-born parents, and she is also fluent in Spanish.

She has three children, Paloma, Jay and Maya, as well as two furry friends – a golden Labrador retriever Maizey, and their lockdown rescue dog Jessie, a pointer mix.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .